Pharmacy Automation Systems Market Overview:

Pharmacy Automation Systems Market was valued at $3,312 million in 2015, and is estimated to reach $5,602 million by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 7.8% from 2016 to 2022. A pharmacy automation system is used to manage and distribute medications mechanically.

Increase in need to reduce medication errors, advantages of pharmacy automation systems market over manual medication dispensing, and development of improved features drive the pharmacy automation systems market. In addition, improvement in healthcare infrastructure in emerging nations is expected to create new opportunities for market expansion. However, high capital investment and stringent government regulations are major barriers that restrain the market growth.

Based on product type, automated medication dispensing systems dominated the pharmacy automation systems market in 2015, owing to the increase in use of these systems to track medicine usage in a controlled manner. However, automated medication compounding systems are expected to grow at the highest growth rate due to surge in their demand as they ensure accuracy of delivery of ingredients and decrease time required for compounding manually.

Geographically, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. North America accounted for the largest market share owing to high adoption rate of pharmacy automation systems to reduce medication errors, improve inventory management & cash flow, and increase medication adherence with unit-dose & multi-dose packaging. Mexico is estimated to grow at a highest CAGR in the North American market.

Asia-Pacific is expected to possess maximum growth potential due to focus of key players on emerging economies to improve healthcare infrastructure.

Market Drivers and Restrains

Increase in Need to Reduce Medication Errors

Medication errors, including failure in the drug prescription and/or dispensing process, may be lethal to patients’ wellbeing. According to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP), approximately 0.1 million people die annually from medical errors that occur in hospitals. To improve the healthcare services and ensure safety of patients, it is necessary to reduce medication errors. Thus, increase in use of pharmacy automation systems results in minimization of errors related to medication, storage, retrieval, dispensing, and usage.

Development of Automated Systems With Improved Features

Technological advancements in pharmacy automation systems result in added features, higher success rate, and newer applications of the device, depending on their usage in various pharmacy processes. For instance, in 2015 Becton, Dickinson and Company developed Cato Medication Workflow software with an optional, camera-based visual documentation hardware, which provides visual documentation of vial, syringe, and IV container information during each gravimetric step. High demand for technologically innovative products to dispense, compound, store, and label prescription medications is witnessed to ensure precise, accurate, and safer usage for better healthcare results.

Advantages of Pharmacy Automation Systems Over Manual Methods

Pharmacy automation systems have improved the process of pharmacy operations, such as filling & capping of drugs, administration & storing of drugs, and labeling the prescriptions. These systems can store and manage more than 200-300 medications and patients’ information, in an effective and secure manner. Rise in adoption of automated systems is expected to ensure notable productivity and increase the number of prescriptions served by the pharmacy by reducing long-term operating cost.

High Capital Investment for Pharmacy Automation Systems

Capital investment required for the installation of pharmacy automation systems is very high. For instance, according to Robotics Industry Insights, in 2015, the cost of installation of robotics in pharmacy was approximately $60,000-$70,000, which is notably high for smaller hospitals and pharmacies. In addition, according to an article published in the Pharmaceutical Journal, the Forth Valley Royal Hospital installed a robotic dispensing system worth $485,880 in 2010. Thus, high cost of these systems is expected to restrain the market growth to a certain extent during the forecast period.

Key Market Benefits

The study provides an in-depth analysis of the pharmacy automation systems market, with current trends and future estimations to elucidate the imminent investment pockets.

It provides a quantitative analysis from 2014 to 2022 to enable the stakeholders to capitalize on prevailing market opportunities.

Extensive analysis by product type and end user determines the various trends and prevailing opportunities in the respective market.

Comprehensive analysis of all geographical regions is provided, which assist in determining the main opportunities.

Key market players are profiled and their strategies are analyzed thoroughly to predict the competitive outlook of the market.

Pharmacy Automation Systems Market Key Segment

The pharmacy automation systems market is segmented into product type, end user, and geography.

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The global pharmacy automation systems market is driven by improvement in healthcare infrastructure, adoption of pharmacy automation systems to reduce medication errors, and increase in healthcare expenditure. Asia-Pacific possesses high market potential due to high investment in healthcare expenditure and rapidly developing healthcare industry, owing to various healthcare reforms and rise in demand & awareness about timely healthcare. Owing to growth in economies, governments in these emerging countries (such as China and India) make several efforts to cater to the demand for better and improved healthcare services and infrastructure. In addition, continuous entry of multinational pharmaceutical companies, distributors, and large pharmacy chains in the region are projected to provide new opportunities for market expansion.

U.S. dominated the pharmacy automation systems market in 2015, owing to high adoption rate of these systems. Major companies involved in the pharmacy automation systems market are Baxter International Inc.; Becton, Dickinson and Company; Omnicell Inc; Capsa Healthcare; McKesson Corporation; and others.